Camping World Independence Bowl

NC State played Vanderbilt on December 26 in the Camping World Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The boys were ready for the game.  Mark has had his coach's headset on basically the entire time since Santa brought them.  The only time he doesn't is when he is sleeping, eating, or taking a shower.

Jack and Mark figuring out the play calls.

They did a really good job as State dominated the Commodores 41-17 to finish 7-6 for the season.

Christmas Day

Well, Santa came here this year! Yeah!!!  Look at this excitement.  Kids excited everywhere.  Both here and in Kingsport!

Did Santa show up? Yes he did.

I am ready to coach my team. - Mark

Kate, Macy, Jack, and Mark

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had our annual set of events.  We had lunch with Granna and Grandpa.  Then, we opened gifts.   Everyone enjoys this atmosphere as we enjoy giving gifts to family and especially seeing the excitement of Jack and Mark open the gifts.  After we opened gifts, we went to our Christmas Eve service at church.  This year, the church is in a transitional state as it is in renovation.  Therefore, we had the service in the gym.  After it finished, we came home, ate some dinner, and prepared for Santa.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Ready to open presents

Happy family post-Christmas Eve Service photo

Waiting for Santa

Pal's Frenchie Fries (Elf) sits with Mark

Pal's Frenchie Fries (Elf) sits with Jack

Grayson Allen Sportscenter rant

On the first day of Christmas break, Jack and Mark played Sportscenter anchors discussing the latest tripping incident of Duke's Grayson Allen.  The play had been widely discussed on TV earlier in the day.  So Mark and Jack decided to have their own discussion regarding the situation.  When Daddy got home, he saw the video for the first time.  He told Mommy that if she put it on Facebook, it would go viral.  And it did go viral.  As of this post, it has over 4600 views.

Gingerbread house

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to go to one of our neighbors who lives in our cul-de-sac for her annual Gingerbread House Making Party.   We all like going over to Ms. Joan's house as she normally makes around 50 gingerbread houses that kids and adults from all over the neighborhood can decorate.  

A fun time is always had by all.  Check out all of our new gingerbread houses we made:

Jack, Ms. Joan, and Mark

Terrific Kid

On December 20, Mommy and Daddy went to school to hear and celebrate Jack being named a terrific kid.  (Mark was named terrific kid the previous month but his teacher accidentally forgot to let us know about it).  

We are so proud of Jack (and Mark) for both being "Terrific Kids":

Ms. Hohstadt's description of Jack

Jack getting his certificate

Jack and Mommy

Daddy and Jack

All of the 2nd grade terrific kids

Sleep Partners

Sometimes you need some angels watching over you when you are sharing a bed with your brother.  Sometimes, you need some sport figures to help out.

Canes Win!

On December 4, the family went to their first Hurricanes game of the year. The Hurricanes were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning.   We were sitting upstairs in the upper level.  After the first period, there was no score and the boys wanted to get a snack.  While we were in line, we ran into a friend of ours from West Raleigh who works for the Hurricanes in the front office. He gave us some tickets downstairs at center ice.  We loved those tickets.  And then we loved it even more when Phil Di Guiseppe scored a goal in overtime to give the Canes a 1-0 victory.

Here we are at the game:

Daddy, Mommy, Jack, and Mark

Our view from center ice.

University Club Breakfast with Santa

The next Saturday we went to the University Club for an event called Breakfast with Santa.  We had a nice breakfast buffet and we went and talked to Santa, where the boys told him they wanted a bean bag chair for Christmas.

Here is a picture from the event:

Mark, Santa, and Jack

Visiting Santa at the Alumni Center

On December 1, we went to the NC State Alumni Center, which is named the Park Alumni Center.  This was a free event where we could get pictures made with Santa Claus as well as Mr. and Mrs. Wolf.  It was a great time that we all had together.  There were crafts that Jack and Mark made.  There were appetizers that we ate for dinner.

We really had fun there and are looking forward to getting back there next year.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Charlie Brown Christmas

When we see something that the boys would like to go to that isn't a normal place we went to, we sign up for it.  They are fans of Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  So, when we found out that the Raleigh Little Theater was hosting the Charlie Brown Christmas, we decided that this would be a no-brainer.  We purchased tickets and were ready to go.  Granna and Grandpa went with us too.  It was fun to have all six of us there.  We went on a Sunday afternoon, still wearing our church clothes to the show.  It was two shows wrapped up into one.  The first show was a Christmas musical set at a 50's diner.  We heard lots of songs sung by middle and high school kids.  Very good.

Next, we had the Charlie Brown Christmas presentation.  The age of the actors ranged from 9 to 13.  It was really good.  The kids put on a very enjoyable show.  After the show, Jack liked it so much he wanted to get an autograph from Snoopy and Charlie Brown.  Since Jack wanted them, so did Mark.  So cute.

Here are a couple of pictures from the show:

Ready for the show.

Can I get Snoopy's autograph?  - Jack

Charlie Brown with a smirk.

Can I also have your autograph?  - Mark

Christmas Pictures

It is that time of year.  It is the week before Thanksgiving.  That means it is the time to take our Christmas card picture.  As we have done in previous years, we went to Daddy's work and took them in the grass around a set of pretty fall trees.

Here are the pictures that are being used for our Christmas card:

Bedtime Reading

Lately, the boys have started reading a new book before bed each night.  We really like the book they are reading...one chapter at a time.  They are reading the Bible at night.  Mommy and Daddy really like that.

Going through the book of Mark.

Middle School basketball

The boys' school is now a fully functional K-8 school.  There are some sports teams at the school.  One of them is basketball, both for boys and girls.  The boys won their conference tournament last year.  This year so far, the girls are undefeated and the boys are something like 8-3.

The boys are really getting into the basketball this season.  They like CCA basketball almost as much as they do NC State basketball.  They even like to make signs for the games:

Go CCA! - Mark

Let's Go Cardinals! - Jack

Miami Game

After an unacceptable loss to Boston College, the Wolfpack got back on the right foot by winning 35-20 at Syracuse to even their record at 5-5.  Up next was Miami at home.  The  boys were ready for this one as one more victory meant a bowl.  Miami is a talented, but very young team and is lead by first year coach Mark Richt, who is probably the best Christian man I have read and heard about within the coaching profession.

Unfortunately for the Pack, they didn't play too well nor as inspired as we thought they would as they slogged through an inconsistent performance and lost 27-13.  They have one last chance now at a bowl game (winning at UNC-CHeat).

Here are some pictures from the game:

Ready to throw a touchdown! - Jack

Best Friends!

Ready for a big win!

Selfie time at halftime.

Boston College Debacle

I refuse to say much about the NC State football game vs. Boston College.  The Eagles were probably the worst Power 5 team I have seen come into Carter-Finley at least since we have been married.  Saying that, the Wolfpack played an uninterested game.  They seemed to feel like they always would win the game because BC is that bad.  Well, they were almost right.  State lost 21-14.  It felt like one of those losses that causes people to lose their jobs.  Coach Dave Doeren, that sentence was for you.

The one redeeming part of the game was the halftime show by the band.  It was Military Appreciation Day.  As part of half time, the band joined the NC State Bagpipes for a stirring rendition of Amazing Grace.

Just listen:

Backyard Football

Some days, when you get home from school, you just gotta get the football out and play some backyard football.  Problem is, it appears that they are just practicing for the next time they play Daddy and Grandpa.

Look at these videos:

Halloween

This year for Halloween, the boys wanted to dress up as Michael Phelps, greatest Olympic champion ever.  They also wanted to go to our church's Trunk or Treat, which is an event where people decorate their trunks however they want to. Then they have a game associated with the trunk that children cane play for some sort of treat, mostly candy.  They also had some inflatables set up in the parking lot, which we all know that kids love them.  Jack and Mark are no different in that.  The boys had a great time.  They are already looking forward to next year.

Here are some remembrances from the event:

Anyone seen Michael Phelps?

In front of Dr. Roberts trunk.  GO BIG ORANGE!

Getting ready to catch some waves! - Jack

This is how you do it, Jack! - Mark

Letterland Parade

One of the areas the boys spent some time in the first quarter of the school year was using a web site called Letterland.  This is a phonics approach to learning.  At the end of the Letterland unit, each kid was supposed to pick a letter and dress up according to that letter.  After they did that, there was a Letterland Parade at school.  It just so happened that Mommy was volunteering at school that morning.  She got some good photos of the boys in the parade.

Here are those photographs:

Letter F - Freddy the Fireman - Jack

Letter E - Eddie the Elephant  - Mark

Time on the Halloween Farm

In mid-October, we went to the Phillips Farm in West Cary for our annual fun time at the farm.  We all love going out there to see them play games, ride slides, do through the corn maze, and bringing home a couple of pumpkins.

It is always a time that makes us realize that Halloween is close and that fall is even closer.  Here are several pictures from our time at the farm:

I have good form for being a QB! - Jack

I am definitely a strong man! - Mark

This spider web crawling is great exercise.  Gets us ready for basketball!

Big boys.  Bigger chair!

I slide down really fast! - Jack

I slide down fast too! - Mark

Uhh, I turned around during the slide.  - Mark

Look how high I can jump!   - Mark

I have great splits on my jump! - Mark

I am getting some splits on my jump too! - Jack

My turn dominating in the cycling event! - Jack

Nope, it is my turn! - Mark

Ready for the hayride.

Yep, this is Mommy's favorite picture of the year!

Hmm, which way do we go?

This is our flag if we get lost.  No worries, we won't get lost!